It’s Time to Talk

With the advent of the #MeToo movement, the time is right to hold serious conversations not only about sexual harassment and assault but more generally about the complexity of relationships between men and women. While we must examine the dichotomy that some men display between their professed attitudes and their actual behavior toward women, we must also leave room for open-ended conversations where men and women can be honest, forthright, and open-minded. As the movement unfolds, more questions than answers arise. How do we determine whether that awkward joke was truly inappropriate? If I want to report something I have seen or heard, to whom do I report it? How can we guard against false accusations and/or retaliation for reporting? What about the man who has been harassed by a woman? Should someone who is accused be fired immediately? And so on. There are so many questions with few clear answers. Until we can get to a point where everyone feels that they can be truly heard, not only by their peers, but by the opposite gender, it will be hard to make progress and answer these difficult questions.

There are many voices speaking out for the necessity of having these difficult conversations. Some, like Mika Brzezinski, have floated some general guidelines for the workplace. Others, such as Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, believe that we are at a point of reckoning. “I think the entire world is now ready for this conversation,” Senator Gillibrand said in an interview. “And I think it really was brought on by the election of President Trump.” Clearly, we need several types of…